A WDW and DCL trip report - with a toddler and a pre-schooler

[Meeska Mooska Mom]

Hi all

I haven't been part of disboards very long but I got a ton of information for my WDW trip so thanks very much!

I plan focus a lot what my kids liked/disliked so that hopefully parents will small children will find something helpful but I hope everyone enjoys my report.

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My family and I took the Land and Sea package trip Oct 25 to Nov 2. Here we are: (this is one of two pictures that actually have all 4 of us together!)

We did the Land portion first and hit each of the 4 main parks. Sorry I didn't even think to take pictures of the food - we were too busy trying to stuff food in while dealing with our kids related food chaos.

We're from the Toronto area but flew out of Buffalo which saved us $900CAN on our flights. We loved Southwest and would fly with them again. Their annoucements are hilarious! "Any bags not properly stowed will be rifled though, souvenirs will be assessed and cool ones will be confiscated!"

We arrived at the Orlando Airport about 10:30, got right on the Disney Bus and headed to Wilderness Lodge. Our check in was super quick and our room, 2034 Woodsview, was ready! We headed to the room, dumped the carry-ons and went out to get the bus to Epcot.

Regarding WL - loved it! The theming was gorgeous and we were close to the elevators which was so helpful with the strollers. We didn't take a lot of pictures but here's some:

Mind the blur on the camera - it was dirty and we didn't notice right away.

I couldn't get over the attention to detail in the room. The carved wooden headboards were gorgeous.

The view from the balcony:

The only thing I will say is that we didn't have a *down* day from the parks and that makes me think that staying here wasn't the best for us. We could have gotten away with something cheaper since all we really did was sleep there and watch some TV after the kids crashed. I do highly recommend it to anyone who takes a day off from the parks. There's tons to do!

We made it Epcot at about noon. We didn't do too much here, mostly some photo ops and it was super busy due to the Wine and Food festival. We did ride Nemo which was disappointing and Spaceship Earth which we all enjoyed. The kids loved the fish in the Seas and the splash pad on the way to the Pavillions was a TOTAL hit with them. We went to Club Cool and we even gave the kids a little taste of the pop. They didn't care for any of it

We walked around a bit and then headed to Biergarten. We had a decent meal and the show was great. Both little guys ate well and LOVED the show. Andrew(DS3) went up to the floor to dance.

We walked around a bit more, hit the french pavilion bakery for some coffee (where I had to sneak back to the cashier to get some milk - nondairy creamer ) and then headed to Britain where we met Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. Aaron(DS16mos) did not like them one bit. Fortunately that changed later!

We were all pretty tired so we headed back to the WL and relaxed.

Some Epcot photos: (we barely took any here)

Next Magic Kingdom...

 

[Meeska Mooska Mom]

Day 2:

Today was our first full day.

We woke up and headed to Poly for the Lilo and Stitch breakfast at Ohana's. On the way we got to chatting with another family who also had a reservation but for an hour after us. We mentioned that they were super early but guess what - we were an hour late. Our clock in the room was ONE HOUR BEHIND

Fortunately for us, that was no problem at Ohana's. We got our leis and photo and headed to our table. Breakfast was served family style meaning that they brought you a dish full of scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage and tea biscuits, plus walked around with nice fresh Mickey Waffles. This is the only time I got a hot one. Breakfast was alright but the eggs were h.o.r.r.i.b.le. Truly aweful - powdered I guess but runny somehow.

Great shot of the food here:

But we weren't there for the food, we were there for the characters anyway I mean - we were there for the kids

Aaron's still scared BUT

then he meets MICKEY and things start to look up

We left breakfast and headed to MK via the monorail.

For parents of very little ones - you should know that if your kids are up for it, there's quite a lot for them to ride. Our kids love everything from Dumbo to POTC. If there's no height restriction we try it out with them. You'd be surprised - Andrew loved Philharmagic and went on it 6 times while we were there. He loved the speedway (too short to drive) and the teacups (4 times). As well Monsters Inc Laugh Floor was a hit and we adults enjoyed it as well.

Swiss Family Robinson - Andrew thought living in a tree would be cool

Some of the Halloween decoration:

We had lunch at the Plaza which I will recommend to everyone. The food was so good. I had the tomato soup and the chicken strawberry salad, both of which were excellent. It was relaxing and cool in there.

Dinner was at Tony's which was ok. The food was decent but I didn't think the service was that great. They didn't bother with us especially at the end when we just wanted to get out of there. I had the pork tenderloin and HB had the steak. Nice enough but I wouldn't hurry back.

Outside Tony's

Then back to the resort

Next up Hollywood Studios...

 

[Meeska Mooska Mom]

Day 3

We woke up the next morning to see that some ^%#* had thrown a beer bottle in the pond outside the room. Talk about classy

Since we now were using the wake up call (which is really funny if you take the time to listen) we headed out to Hollywood Studios by bus. We had a reservation for the Little Einsteins/Jojo's Circus breakfast. This time it was buffet, not too bad, not to great. Same horrible eggs though. I liked having more choice along with cold cereals etc. The kids loved the characters since Playhouse Disney is always on in our house. They sang the songs from their shows and the HotDog song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This time Aaron was much more engaged. As we were leaving they started some more dancing and he ran back to join in. It wasn't too busy either so if you have younger kids I highly recommend this breakfast.

Next got we Toy Story Mania fast passes and caught the Playhouse Disney show. Again another highly recommended. Our boys had a blast and all the other kids seemed to as well. After that we headed to the Great Movie Ride which I've never been on before. I really enjoyed it. My kids found some parts scary but at the end they weren't upset. We caught the Muppets 3D show which blew Andrew away just like Philharmagic. This is the first tim he's seen 3D movies and they knocked his socks off

Then it was time for lunch at Sci-Fi Diner. I think that this is a must do ONCE - for the ambiance. The food was terrible and the service wasn't great. Kids loved it of course - just 'cause I never want to go again

After that we headed to the TOT since we had some time to kill before TSM. TOT ROCKED!!! I loved it!!! Me -

We headed back to TSM and it went down just as we were getting in line, so we went to meet Buzz and Woody instead.

Still down so its off to the Block Party!

And back to TSM where our expired fast passes are still honoured because of the technical issues. Aaron sat on my lap for this one and didn't have the 3D glasses but seemed to enjoy it enough. Andrew had his own gun and could not have had more fun! Great for the kids if you can get the fastpass, otherwise the line would have put us off. Andrew wanted to go again but the fastpasses were gone for the day and there was no way we were lining up.

HB really wanted to catch the Jedi Training Academy so off we went. HB was quite disappointed that Andrew wasn't chosen (and secretly for himself too ) but he was definitely too young. The show was a lot of fun and the kids that were picked did an awesome job. We'll be back for that one.

Off to dinner at Primetime Diner. We thought we were in for a long wait based on the number of people in the livingroom and bar but we got in super quick - I think because of the kids? Or the reservation? Food was good and the kids ate quite well. They loved the little Tv and the waitress paid them quite a bit of attention. I've eaten there before and its always fun.

In the waiting area:

We decided to give the RocknRoller Coaster a whirl before we left. There was no line so HB and I each took a turn. I enjoyed the walkthrough to the ride and the takeoff of the coaster but the rest was *meh*. I think the TOT broke me.

The best part of the day was an accident. We saw that Fantasmic had *just* started and the kids were more awake than we expected so we said what the heck and went in. No wonder people rave about this! For our kids the villans were a little scary but they already knew them so it wasn't terrible. The ending was fantasic and Andrew talked about it the whole way back to WL. I give this a must see as well.

Some random HS pictures:

Up next (but not tonight) Animal Kingdom...